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Delta 371: Delta 4-Medium+ lofts GPS 2F-9

New bird flies for GPS navigation network
Climbing away from Earth on the power of its liquid hydrogen-fueled main engine and twin solid rockets, a Delta 4 booster successfully launched a new Global Positioning System satellite Wednesday to benefit U.S. military operations and civilian society as a whole.
FULL COVERAGE

Delta 370: Delta 2-7320 launches SMAP

Delta 2 rises to occasion with SMAP observatory
The ever-dependable Delta 2 rocket continued its flawless service to NASA and Earth sciences Saturday with the launch of a $916 million environmental probe focused on producing global maps of soil moisture from space.
FULL COVERAGE

Delta 369: Delta 4-Heavy launches Orion

Delta 4-Heavy blasts off with Orion capsule
NASA's inaugural Orion spaceship has set sail on a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise around the Earth, leaving port atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket and its incandescent power at 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5.
FULL COVERAGE

Delta 4 rocket successfully lofts surveillance satellite
A Delta 4 rocket made a thunderous departure from California on Tuesday afternoon, only to slip into a news blackout minutes later while it climbed higher and faster to deploy a classified spy satellite, a success-defining milestone that was confirmed by hobbyist observers.
FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!

350 launches and counting for family of Delta rockets
There was a sentimental blastoff from California on Friday night as the venerable Delta 2 made its one-and-only flight of the year, chalking up a major milestone for the rocket family's lasting legacy while also finishing deployment of Italy's radar satellite quartet that images the world for peace and security.
FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!IMAGES:POISED FOR LAUNCHLAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINEGROUND TRACK MAP

Bittersweet launch ends several chapters of history
As the day dawned at Cape Canaveral on August 17, another Delta 2 rocket darted into the sky on a satellite deployment mission. But this successful launch was remarkably different. Instead of bringing joy, there was deep sadness from the finality bought by the flight.FULL STORYLAUNCH PHOTO GALLERYMISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!

Photo gallery: Air Force's final Delta 2 rocket launch
The Delta 2 rocket made one last flight for the U.S. Air Force by launching the Global Positioning System 2R-21 satellite from Cape Canaveral's pad 17A on Monday.MISSION PHOTO GALLERY

Delta 2 rocket deploys another GPS satellite
Continuing 20 years of building and maintaining the Global Positioning System, the workhorse Delta 2 rocket March 24 successfully launched another satellite for the navigation network known the world over.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERYIMAGES:TOWER ROLLBACK

Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:
ROLLBACK OF LAUNCH PAD GANTRY PLAYVIDEO:
DELTA 2 ROCKET LIFTS OFF WITH GPS 2R-20 PLAYVIDEO:
LAUNCH OF GPS 2R-20 SATELLITE AS SEEN LIVE PLAYVIDEO:
FIRST STAGE MAIN ENGINE CUTOFF PLAYSUBSCRIBE NOW

Italian radar-imaging craft launched by Delta rocket
The third spacecraft for Italy's home-grown Earth observing system, a constellation of radar satellites built for civil and military reconnaissance, received a successful boost into orbit by an American Delta 2 rocket.MISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Delta 335: Delta 2-7420 launches GeoEye 1

High-res commercial Earth imager launched to space
A Delta 2 rocket thundered out of America's western spaceport September 6 and put into orbit a commercial Earth-imaging satellite that promises to offer a sharper clarity than any private satellite launched before it.MISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:ROCKET ON THE PADIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

NASA launches observatory with gamma ray vision
A Delta 2 rocket roared to life and successfully boosted a $690 million space telescope into orbit on June 11, the most sophisticated observatory ever built to study the tell-tale high energy gamma rays generated by the most violent explosions and processes in the known universe.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:MOBILE SERVICE TOWER ROLLBACKIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Final Delta launch of 2007 lofts new GPS satellite
A productive year for the Delta rocket program that launched spacecraft to observe Earth, dig up frozen water on Mars and explore uncharted worlds in the asteroid belt was capped with a successful ascent of a modernized GPS navigation satellite on Thursday afternoon from Cape Canaveral.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERYIMAGES:LAUNCH PAD CAMERASIMAGES:TOWER ROLLBACK

Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:
THE DELTA 2 ROCKET BLASTS OFF WITH GPS 2R-18 PLAYVIDEO:
MOBILE SERVICE TOWER IS ROLLED BACK FOR LAUNCH PLAYVIDEO:
GPS SATELLITE ANIMATION PLAYSUBSCRIBE NOW

Delta 330: Delta 2-7420 launches COSMO 2

Italian-made Earth observer soars into space
The second in a series of Italian radar satellites rocketed away from Earth on Saturday night, achieving a spot-on delivery into polar orbit aboard a Delta 2 rocket launched from California.MISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Last-of-its-kind satellite reaches orbit
Saturday night signaled the end of a 37-year-long string of launches for the Air Force's early warning satellite program as the military prepares to transition toward a new system.FULL STATUS

Upgraded satellite launched for the GPS constellation
A Global Positioning System satellite with enhanced qualities is flying high after successfully soaring into space Wednesday to reinvigorate a corner of the precision navigation network.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Delta 2 rocket launches to new success record
A sophisticated new Earth-imaging satellite with sharp eyes, nimble moves and a broad memory was launched Sept. 18, riding the ever-dependable Delta 2 rocket into orbit during a flawless ascent that set a new reliability mark for modern space boosters.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Delta 325: Delta 2-7925 launches Phoenix

Phoenix takes flight!
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has embarked on its 10-month, 420-million-mile cruise from Earth to Mars, departing aboard a Delta 2 rocket August 4 bound for the Red Planet to examine the frozen water in the northern plains that could be a habitable zone for life.
FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER - updates!VIDEO:COVERAGE OF PHOENIXPODCAST:WATCH | FREE SUBSCRIPTION

Phoenix launch gallery
These collections of images show the Phoenix spacecraft leaving Earth for its interplanetary cruise to Mars. The mobile service gantry at pad 17A was rolled back Friday evening to reveal the Delta 2 rocket in the final hours of the countdown. The successful liftoff followed early Saturday.
IMAGES:TOWER ROLLBACKIMAGES:LIFTOFF!

From Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, these panoramas show the Complex 17 launch pads used by Delta 2 rockets. Spaceflight Now photographer Chris Miller captured the panoramas before and after the Phoenix launch from pad 17A. The rocket to loft the Dawn asteroid probe stands on pad 17B.

Lander targets Mars' water
When NASA's Phoenix lander arrives at Mars next May, it will join a flotilla of spacecraft already at the red planet working as a team of robotic scientists to probe the existence of water.
FULL STORY

Delta 2 rocket puts military experiment into space
An experimental U.S. military project to characterize the performance of two micro-satellite trailblazers operating 22,300 miles above Earth and a prototype maneuvering motor for small spacecraft began with a beautiful blastoff from Cape Canaveral on the evening of June 21.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERIMAGES:TOWER ROLLBACKIMAGES:LAUNCH OF MITEX

7th shot the lucky one for Delta rocket launch
You could say it was a dream for insomniacs but a nightmare for everyone else. A week of night-owl countdowns to launch a Boeing Delta 2 rocket loaded with two atmospheric research satellites ended in scrubs for one reason or another. But try number seven proved to be the lucky one April 28, as the Delta rocket successfully blasted off from California.
MISSION STATUS CENTERLAUNCH EVENTS TIMELINEGROUND TRACK MAPIMAGES:FIRST LAUNCH ATTEMPT

Delta 2: Photo gallery of Friday's rocket launch
This collection of images shows the Boeing Delta 2 rocket launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 3:02 a.m. local time with the CALIPSO and CloudSat atmospheric research satellites. Enjoy!IMAGES:ENTER THE GALLERY

Delta 2 rocket delivers weather satellite into space
A weather observatory was successfully launched into orbit May 20 to build upon a 45-year history of tracking the Earth's environmental conditions from space.
MISSION STATUS CENTER

Delta rocket puts on late-night show with GPS launch
After a nerve-racking stay on its Cape Canaveral launch pad with uncomfortably close encounters by two powerful hurricanes, a Boeing Delta 2 rocket finally thundered into space November 6 where it successfully deployed a Global Positioning System satellite to aid U.S. military forces around the world.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERPHOTO GALLERY:FRIDAY'S TOWER ROLLBACKPHOTO GALLERY:FIRST LAUNCH ATTEMPT

Probe leaves Earth on voyage to orbit Mercury
A Boeing Delta 2 rocket roared to life August 3 and climbed into space, launching NASA's ambitious MESSENGER probe on a round-about six-and-a-half-year voyage to Mercury, a $427 million quest to fill in one of the most glaring blanks in planetary exploration.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTEROUR PREVIEW STORY

Delta rocket successfully launches one for The Gipper
Finally winning the battle over Florida's summertime weather after three earlier losses, a Boeing Delta 2 rocket roared to space June 23 and deployed a Global Positioning System military navigation satellite in a mission dedicated to the memory of President Ronald Reagan.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERTUESDAY'S UPDATE STORY

Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:
DELTA 2 ROCKET BLASTS OFF WITH GPS 2R-12 QTVIDEO:
LIFTOFF AS SEEN FROM PRESS SITE QTSUBSCRIBE NOW

Launch photo collection
This gallery of launch pictures captures the successful flight of Boeing's Delta 2 rocket carrying the GPS 2R-12 spacecraft as seen from sound-activated cameras at pad 17B, the press viewing site at Cape Canaveral and more.OPEN GALLERY

Newest GPS spacecraft successfully soars into orbit
As the 50th Global Positioning System satellite rose to space March 20, it celebrated the man who championed the concept of orbiting spacecraft serving as "lighthouses in the sky" to guide mankind with precision navigation information.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Upgraded satellite en route to GPS constellation
With a flash of blinding light, a $45 million replacement craft began its thunderous trek toward the U.S. military's Global Positioning System constellation December 21 aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERLAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Video coverage for subscribers only:VIDEO: LIFTOFF AS SEEN FROM CAPE PRESS SITE QTSUBSCRIBE NOW

Delta 301: Delta 4 Medium launches DSCS B6

Delta 4 rocket delivers last Air Force DSCS satellite
After four decades and two dozen launches, the Air Force's longest-running communications satellite system received its final member August 29 with the successful flight of Boeing's Delta 4 rocket.
FULL STORYLAUNCH PHOTO GALLERYMISSION STATUS CENTER

300th Delta rocket launches new window on Universe
With a sky-lighting burst of flame and thunder, a Boeing Delta 2 rocket boosted a $1.2 billion infrared telescope into space August 25, a "great observatory" designed to detect the feeble glow of infant planets, stars and galaxies in the making.
FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Earth's Opportunity rover launched to Mars
Recovering from a last-second cliffhanger delay, NASA finally launched its second state-of-the-art rover to Mars on July 7, sending the $400 million "Opportunity" spacecraft on its way atop a hot-rod Delta 2 rocket that lighted the night sky for dozens of miles around.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

'Spirit' rover begins seven-month cruise to Mars
NASA kicked off an $800 million mission to Mars on June 10, launching the first of two golf cart-sized robots that will creep across the red planet's surface looking for the geological traces of a warmer, wetter past and the environmental conditions necessary for the evolution of life.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Delta doesn't disappoint in successful GPS launch
A new satellite to replenish the U.S. military's preeminent space-based navigation network roared off the planet March 31, destined to circle 11,000 miles above the globe to guide soldiers in the battlefield and civilians around the world.FULL STORYLAUNCH PHOTO GALLERYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Video coverage for subscribers only:VIDEO: THE DELTA 2 ROCKET LAUNCHES WITH GPS 2R-9 QTVIDEO: ALTERNATE VIEW OF LIFTOFF FROM NORTH OF PAD QTVIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH LAUNCH SQUADRON COMMANDER QTVIDEO: INSIGHT ABOUT GPS FROM GULF WAR VETERAN QTVIDEO: POST-LAUNCH COMMENTS FROM BLS PRESIDENT QTSUBSCRIBE NOW

Delta 296: Delta 4 Medium launches DSCS A3

Delta 4 rocket successfully begins military service
Born in the last decade by the Pentagon's call for a next-generation launcher of satellite cargos, Boeing's Delta 4 rocket did what it was designed to do March 10 with the successful deployment of a $210 million military communications spacecraft. It was the Air Force's first Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle mission.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Delta rocket launches GPS navigation satellite
For the first time in two years, a replacement satellite is en route to bolster the U.S. military's Global Positioning System constellation following a successful launch January 29 that was dedicated to the heroes of September 11.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Delta 2 pulls double duty with launch of two satellites
Two NASA spacecraft -- one that will bounce laser beams off Earth to gauge environmental changes, the other to study relics of a supernova explosion in our galactic neighborhood -- rode a Boeing Delta 2 rocket into orbit January 12 from California.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Boeing's Delta 4 rocket debuts successfully
The era of Boeing's next-generation rocket family was launched with success November 20 as the maiden Delta 4 powered its way into Earth orbit to deploy a European-made communications satellite.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERARCHIVED DELTA 4 COVERAGE

Delta 292: Delta 2-7425 launches CONTOUR

Probe launched to see fossils of planet formation
A tiny space probe was dispatched from Earth July 3 for a tantalizing tour of comets -- the frozen time capsules that hold the primordial building blocks left over from the creation of our solar system.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Two science satellites launched by 100th Delta 2
Two spacecraft that will use the unique vantage point of space to study our home planet were successfully launched into orbit December 7 by the 100th Boeing Delta 2 rocket.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

NASA probe launched to retrieve bits of our origins
NASA's Genesis spacecraft was successfully launched on its three-year, 20-million mile voyage by a Boeing Delta 2 rocket on August 8, kicking off the $260 million mission that aims to catch particles streaming from the Sun and return them to scientists on Earth.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Craft launched to unlock secrets of the universe
A NASA space probe designed to map the afterglow of the Big Bang -- the fossil light from the creation of the universe 14 billion years ago -- was launched into space on June 30 atop a Boeing Delta 2 rocket.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Delta 285: Delta 2-7925 launches GeoLITE

Delta 2 lofts spy satellite technology demonstrator
A $130 million experimental laser communications testbed spacecraft launched May 18 could pave the way for quicker transmission of reconnaissance information from U.S. spy satellites back to Earth.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Boeing Delta 2 rocket lofts another GPS satellite
Exactly ten years after the U.S. military troops reaped the benefits from the Global Positioning System while fighting the Gulf War in featureless deserts, a new satellite was launched into orbit January 30 to keep the constellation going.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERVIDEO: DELTA 2 ROCKET LIFTS OFF

Delta 282: Delta 2-7320 lofts EO-1 & SAC-C

Delta 2 rocket puts three satellites into Earth orbit
Three spacecraft that will study Earth from above were carried aloft November 21 aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket including one that promises to make future remote sensing satellites faster, better and cheaper.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Delta 3 falls short but still a success, Boeing says
Boeing's Delta 3 rocket launched August 23 missed its target orbit by over a thousand miles, but company officials are still hailing the demonstration mission as a complete success. The $85 million booster lofted a satellite mockup to prove its reliability after two earlier failures.FULL STORYLAUNCH STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

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Delta 279: Delta 2-7925 launches GPS 2R-5

Delta shows what it's like to launch into the night
As a Boeing Delta 2 rocket successfully lofted a new U.S. Air Force navigation satellite on Sunday, two onboard video cameras provided dazzling views of the predawn jaunt into space.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERPREVIOUS ROCKETCAM CLIPS

Delta 278: Delta 2-7925 launches GPS 2R-4

Delta rocket lofts replacement GPS satellite
A fresh spacecraft was launched into orbit for the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning System on May 10 to fill a void created by the recent loss of the constellation's inaugural satellite.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTERLAUNCH VIDEO (QuickTime file)

Delta rocket launch to fill vacant hole in GPS network
A new Global Positioning System military navigation satellite will be launched into space Friday night to replace the very first spacecraft deployed in the U.S. Air Force constellation 11 years ago.FULL STORY

Delta 277: Delta 2-7326 launches IMAGE

Space weather satellite launched by Boeing rocket
A NASA satellite built to see Earth's invisible magnetosphere was trucked into orbit on March 25 by a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. The IMAGE probe will serve as a new pair of eyes in space to study the solar wind and its affect on the planet.FULL STORYVIRTUAL VANDENBERG (explore SLC-2)

Delta 276: Delta 2-7420 launches Globalstars

Globalstar constellation completed with Delta launch
A Boeing Delta 2 rocket added the final touches to Globalstar's orbiting armada of cellular telephone satellites on February 8, delivering the last four spacecraft into orbit.FULL STORYMISSION STATUS CENTER

Boeing Delta 2 rocket to fly for Globalstar
The first Boeing Delta rocket launch of 2000, a $110 million mission dedicated to completing Globalstar's space-based cellular telephone system, is planned for February 8 at Cape Canaveral.FULL STORY

Delta 275: Delta 2-7925 launches GPS 2R-3

Delta 2 rocket successfully launches GPS satellite
The final Boeing Delta 2 launch of 1999 occurred on October 7, boosting a U.S. Air Force NAVSTAR Global Positioning System Block 2R navigation satellite into space.FULL STORY

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